Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, May 2, 2017

It kills me to lose. If I'm a troublemaker, and I don't think that my temper makes me one, then it's because I can't stand losing. That's the way I am about winning, all I ever wanted to do was finish first. - Jackie Robinson

Following a disciplinary meeting with Team Sky concerning an incident at the Tour of Romandie, Gianni Moscon has been given a formal written warning and suspended from racing for six weeks. He will also attend a diversity awareness course.

Gianni recognises that his behaviour was wrong and how seriously Team Sky take this kind of incident.

He apologised to Kevin Reza after the stage and again to him and his team the following morning, and this apology was accepted. Gianni knows that there is no excuse for his behaviour and that any repeat will result in termination of his contract.

LottoNL-Jumbo's Giro d'Italia plans

The team sent me this update:

Steven Kruijswijk can count on eight strong teammates in the Giro d’Italia. Last winter, Team LottoNL-Jumbo has signed Stef Clement and Jurgen van den Broeck especially for the tough third week. Obvious that they will be part of the team travelling to Sardinia tomorrow for the start of the 100th Giro d’Italia this Friday.

The lineup of Team LottoNL-Jumbo is Dutch colored. Besides Kruijswijk and Clement, the team will attend with Twan Castelijns, Jos van Emden, Bram Tankink and Martijn Keizer. The Belgian time trial champion Victor Campenaerts and the Italian double stage winner Enrico Battaglin complete the team of the sports directors Addy Engels, Jan Boven and Sierk Jan de Haan.

Kruijswijk, fourth in 2016 and seventh in 2015, aims for a top-three result in the general classification. “Last year, I crashed two days before the end of the race. I lost the highest achievable: the pink jersey. Nevertheless, I know what I’m capable to after that Giro and I want to compete again for a good result. We continued working hard to get the most out of it. It was great to wear the pink jersey last year. Now, I wish to finish on the final podium and preferably as high as possible”, says the 29 years old team leader.

Steven Kruijswijk racing in the 2016 Giro d'Italia

And here's Orica-Scott's Giro news:

Two of Orica-Scott's most promising young riders will lead the team’s ambitions at the 100th edition of the Giro d’Italia starting this Friday.

24-year-old Adam Yates, who last year won the Tour de France best young rider’s white jersey, will ride for a strong general classification result whilst the team will also support 22-year-old speedster Caleb Ewan in the sprint finishes.

Adam Yates in his white Jersey after stage 20 of the 2016 Tour de France

“We will mix our focus between Adam in the mountains and Caleb on the flat stages,” sport director Matt White said. “It’s a tricky mix, but we aren’t the only people doing it and I am confident with the group we have we can chase both goals with success. We will certainly have something to concentrate on every day for the next three weeks.”

The century edition of Italy’s Grand Tour comes with much prestige and as a result has attracted a top field of general classification riders. The start list and an extremely difficult final week will make the overall victory a challenging task for any rider.

“We certainly don’t go in as the favourites for the general classification,” White admitted. “Even though we’ve had a couple of big names pull out, it’s still the best field ever assembled. It’s easier to list who’s not at the Giro than who is, so it’s an all-star cast.”

“It will be Adam’s first Giro d’Italia and it continues his learning process which means we can approach it in a different mindset. I think winning the white jersey and a top-10 finish are very achievable goals for him to have.”

Critical to Yates’ final result, particularly in the third week of racing, will be Spanish duo Carlos Verona and Ruben Plaza, who last year played a major role in helping teammate Esteban Chaves to second overall.

“Carlos is going to be crucial and Ruben has recovered from surgery in the off season to be there to offer guidance and experience. He was very reliable with Esteban last year, so we would expect to see the same again,” White said.

Starting on the island of Sardinia, the opening stage of the 2017 Giro d’Italia has a big potential to finish in a bunch sprint, with the opportunity to claim the first maglia rosa of the 100th edition capturing the eyes of the sprinters who will line up.

“(Andre) Greipel and (Fernando) Gaviria are our big sprint rivals this year,” White said. “In Caleb's second Giro we can really target winning a stage when the opportunities arise and that will start on stage one with the Maglia Rosa the bonus for the winner.”

Supporting Ewan in the sprints will be fellow Australian Alexander Edmondson who has received the call up for his debut Grand Tour thanks to impressive performances in recent weeks, particularly at the Tour de Romandie last week. The reward is the second of its kind for Edmondson this season, after he was added to the Paris-Roubaix team last month.

"This is Alex's first full year will a 100% road focus and we have been really impressed with his commitment and performances so quickly. He is someone we believe in and know he is ready to step up for his first Grand Tour.

“Alex and Luka Mezgec are there specifically for the finals with Caleb and then we have versatility of Michael Hepburn and Chris Juul-Jensen and strength and power of Svein Tuft to work across both ambitions.”

With the Giro d'Italia fast approaching, German Team Sunweb look forward to participating in the 100th anniversary of the race. The team have selected a strong and experienced line-up to chase its goals throughout the race, including riders from its German core who will be crucial to the team's ambitions for the 100th edition of the Giro d'Italia.

Speaking about Team Sunweb’s line-up for the Giro, coach Aike Visbeek (NED) explained: "After a good period of preparation and training, we are feeling super motivated for a great 100th anniversary edition of the race with the line-up that we have selected. We've just returned from the team's high altitude camp in Tenerife and we've done video recons to prepare our riders and get familiar with the key sections of the course.

"Phil makes his Grand Tour debut with us at the Giro and we will focus on the development of him getting a free role on the flat sprinter's stages to go for a stage result. On these stages we will have a common goal to protect Tom [Dumoulin] and also bring Phil into the final in good shape.

Phil Bauhaus winning a stage in the 2016 Tour de Azerbaidjan

"It will be a tough three weeks. For the difficult stages we have Simon, Georg, Sindre and Chad to support Tom, whereas Laurens and Wilco will be the last guys to go through deeper into the finale. Laurens brings a wealth of experience and Wilco has himself achieved a top 10 here in the past. Tom [Stamsnijder] is an engine that can help us out both on the hills and flat.“

At just under 200 kilometres in length, Ronde van Overijssel takes riders through some of the Netherlands most famous hills, including that of the Tankenberg, Kuiperberg and the Apenberg. Riders also have the “Hell of the East” to contend with, a cobbled paved section that is synonymous with the famous sectors of Paris-Roubaix, before three times round a local circuit in Rijssen to finish.

Ahead of the race Team Sunweb coach Tom Veelers (NED) said: "This race goes through my hometown and in the area in which I used to train, so we have an extensive knowledge of the parcours. There are some cobbled sections and a few hills which usually reduce the peloton going through to the finish. We have various plans in place for the finish which are dependent on who is still up there in the last kilometres. Our aim is to stay well positioned and to be represented in the breakaway."

This Sunday sees the 52nd edition of Flèche Ardennaise get underway and Development Team Sunweb line-up with another strong German roster for the race. The race's route totals 180 kilometres with two 10 kilometre laps of a finishing circuit sure to ramp up the pace for an exciting finale.

Team Sunweb coach Tom Veelers (NED) explained: "After a tough day of racing on the day before, the team will have another challenging day ahead of them with Flèche Ardennaise. The days aim is to go with a breakaway that is represented well in numbers, and stay well positioned in the final laps. As always our main target is rider development, the parcours are quite testing so this race is another great opportunity for us to do that."